Mercy Ugdamin, a longtime fan of both San Miguel and Dondon Hontiveros, was stunned. Do you remember Mercy? I wrote a column about her last November (click here for link). Five seconds before she heard my on-air announcement during the Talk 'N Text-Powerade game last March 2, she was still a PBA fan unaffected by the realities of professional sports. Five seconds later, she was still a fan, albeit less enthusiastic, more confused. "Hala ano ba yung sinabi ni Mico sa TV?," Mercy recalls asking herself after hearing the news. "Nakaupo ako sa sofa. Tumayo ako. Pinatay ko yung TV dahil ayaw ko maniwala. Ten years po si Dondon sa SMB tapos bigla na lang nawala. Tapos humiga ako, pinikit ko mata ko at umiyak."
Mercy, however, is not alone.
San Miguel fans startled by Wednesday's trade are hardly unique. Where were you when Alaska and Johnny A divorced? When Jerry Codiñera left Alvin Patrimonio's side? When Paras and Magsanoc broke up? When Crispa said goodbye?
Still remember how it felt when Toyota disbanded?
I do. I was 10 years old. Toyota was my team the way the Philippines was my country.
Naturally, I believed Robert Jaworski was Batman and Francis Arnaiz was Robin. Naturally, Crispa, Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, even the color green became enemies (and people wonder why, in choosing schools, I passed on green and picked blue).
Then, in 1984, Toyota disbanded. Without the benefit of reading rumors online or hearing tsismis from friends, I never saw it coming. I saw the newspaper and discovered my team was dead. Jaworski-Fernandez, gone. Toyota-Crispa, gone. Me and my Super Corollas, gone. A 10-year old didn't just lose one irreplaceable player. I lost an entire team.
Still, I sympathize with Mercy. I struggled with change; Jaworski in a Gilbey's Gin uniform, Fernandez in a Beer Hausen jersey. As soon as she sees Hontiveros in ube and white, she'll likewise struggle. Hopefully, her heartbreak will pass. She'll cheer for Dondon again.
But will she cheer for Air 21 as well? Air 21 ships out blue-chippers as efficiently as they ship them in. Their sign-develop-then-trade strategy deserves an MA Thesis in Sports Management if you ask me. Yet I'm not sure if it's the kind of crafty-wheeling-and-dealing fans like Mercy will embrace.
As teams and players cope with change, Mercy deals with the uncomfortable truth. The PBA won't reverse trades while she mourns. Games will proceed. They didn't stop after a part of me died in '84, not even after the league lost its greatest rivalry that same year.
Some deals are just agonizing. So are many breakups. It's up to the league and its emotional fans to pick up the pieces, learn and move on. I did. The PBA will. I wish Mercy will too.
"Hindi ako sigurado kung manunuod ako sa game ng SMB mamaya. Wala na si Dondon," Mercy admits. "Nahati na ako sa dalawa. Nahati na puso ko sa dalawa."
Mico Halili, GMA News
